Chinese sportsmen have been highly spirited after the flame for this summer's Beijing Olympic Games was lit up in Ancient Olympia on Monday.

"It starts the torch relay and marks the countdown of the Olympic Games on our home turf," said former Chinese Olympian Lang Ping, now the head coach of the U.S. women's national volleyball team. Lang will be one of the torchbearers during the flame's international relay in North America.

"I could vividly touch the feel now that the Olympics is nearer and nearer," said Lang, who led the Chinese team to the champion at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984.

Lang, also a key member in the all-conquering Chinese women's volleyball team in early 1980s, added, "From now on, I'll exercise more to make myself a qualified torchbearer."

Lang is leading the U.S. team for a training tour in China.

She's one of the Chinese delegates having witnessed the moment of Beijing winning the bid seven years ago in Moscow, and said it's honors and dreams for athletes to be part of the Olympics.

Also among the bearers for the five-month domestic and international torch relay are Xu Haifeng, who's both China's first Olympic gold medalist in 1984 and the first Olympic torchbearer in 1996, has dreamed more on his second spell of passing the flame.

"I hope that I could be the last runner to bear the torch and to light the main flame in the National Stadium while holding the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," said Xu.

"People are more impressed by the first and last torchbearers, just like they always remember who won the first gold.

"Whatever, to participate is more important and honored," he added.

The former head coach of the Chinese shooters has been busy with the preparations of the country's modern pentathlon national team for the Games due on August 8-24.

"I hope my team could make a breakthough in the Olympics on home soil and give a big surprise to our compatriots," he said.

Non-torchbearing sports celebrities were as excited, as China's go chess master Nie Weiping, former Olympic sprinter Li Xuemei and Lang Ping's teammate Zhu Ling all hailed the lighting-up of the Beijing Olympic flame.

"We are proud of the achievement of our country in sports in the past 20 years. And the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games will lead it to a peak," said Zhu.

"All the go chess players, including me, are highly expecting the first ever Olympic Games on the home turf," said Nie though go chess is not an Olympic sport.

"It's a magnificent, holy and exciting moment when the Olympic flame was lit up," said Li, who attended both the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004.

The Olympic flame lighting ceremony on Monday at the birthplace of Ancient Olympics launched the Olympic torch relay for the Beijing Games, which will last 130 days and cover 137,000 kilometers worldwide.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2008)